Breath of God
If you see me reading an Orthodox book for children, don’t laugh. In my limited experience, the foundational differences between western and eastern Christianity are on such a scale that even simple theology meant for preschoolers can sometimes be for me a great theophany.
Though intended for slightly older children, a question and answer article in one Orthodox publication addressing the following query: “Do pets go to heaven?” The answer, offered by Bishop BASIL begins by better defining what is meant by “going to heaven,” which he describes as sharing in God’s immortal life within the Kingdom. He then refers to something in Genesis, which I’d never really discerned as being potentially significant.
All of creation was spoken into existence….except humankind. “God spoke the word and these things instantaneously came to be. On the sixth day however, God didn’t say, ‘Let there be,’ but rather ‘Let us make.’ God himself bent down and with His own hands lovingly fashioned Man in His own image and likeness, and enlivened him with His very own breath.”
Bishop BASIL then quotes the Blessed Elder Joseph the Hesychast, who is said to have often reminded children: “Don’t you know that you are the very Breath of God?”
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